Combatting Disinformation with Content, the Dark Art of Dark Patterns, a Quick View of Instagram Notes, and Some Gen Z Stats from The SUM
As each passing year brings in the literal "new year" (i.e. getting older and wiser), it's become more apparent than ever to acknowledge someone and express gratitude when you feel compelled to do so. Don't put off a positive feeling or memory. Call, text, email, direct message, choose your favorite form of communication—just relay your thoughts to the person you're thinking of.
That Spidey-Sense you become aware of from an idea (or memory) that sprung out of nowhere is not insignificant. You may be delivering a message to someone who needs right at that moment. The takeaway is don't hesitate to appreciate the people in your life in the New Year.
Staying aware and self-educated is a habit that takes practice. This basic principle is the how and why of the content contained within?the SUM. Reflections and insights shared among peers?create an atmosphere and community focused on learning together—it makes us better as creators and innovators, and it's where creativity thrives.
SIDE NOTE: The 10 days of hoarded PTO from 2022 were put to good use through the holidays and offered a great reset for 2023. Big thanks to Jack Appleby for constantly encouraging the use of paid time off. You don't realize how much you need it until you use it. ??
Leave a comment at the bottom if you learned something, hated
something, or just want to say what's up.
Here's a recap of the final, slow weeks of 2023.
The Failure of Academia's Content Strategy and Controlling Disinformation with SEO Best Practices
How can scientists and academics combat disinformation and theoretical mumbo-jumbo? In short, learn how to “Internet” or hire a digital marketing expert. ?? ??
Before diving into the controversy, the argument here is universities and academic publishers need better content strategies to support proven theories and concepts via social media and search engines.
Graham Hancock Controversy and "Ancient Apocalypse" on Netflix
If you’ve been on?Netflix?since November, you may have stumbled over “Ancient Apocalypse” hosted by Graham Hancock. Because the show is labeled as a “docuseries” on the streaming platform, knives are out on?YouTube?and?Twitter?calling the show “unsubstantiated pseudoscience” and the like.
TikTok?is ripe with critical critiques, too, but there’s an overwhelming sentiment to paint TikTok with the brush of a “conspiracy-ridden” social network lorded over by a communist regime. (There’s truth to that… but it’s another topic entirely.)
Anyway, taking it a step further, “The?Society for American Archaeology (SAA)?wrote a letter to Netflix asking it to reclassify and contextualize the show” — claiming the ‘aggressive rhetoric’ and ‘false claims’ from the host serve as a premise for white supremacist ideologies. *Notably, “Ancient Aliens” on the History Channel received similar outcries when it first hit cable and satellite back in 2009.
If You're a Conspritorial Storyteller, You're Winning the SERP Battle
The thing is conspiracy theorists are better marketers, they’re “expert storytellers” because they have to be—given their theories are not accepted by academia. Those conspiracy peddlers thrive on the Internet of 2023 to fend off suppression from known scholars and universities.
But professors and respected subject matter experts publish articles in scientific magazines and academic journals of prestige within their community, not social media. Those findings aren’t published on popular websites or blogs, and then distributed onto social channels by the author, nor are the findings converted into short-form and long-form videos for?Instagram?Reels. Therein lies the problem...
Content Strategy Will Help Experts Win the War Over Disinformation
The influx of unfounded theories finding their way to the top of SERPs proves good storytelling and marketing can win out over the competition. This is especially true if you're trying to capture a digital audience. It’s important to tell your story but without a strategy to disseminate the information, you’re screwed.
To sum this whole debate up, the article by?Ben Steele?at?Search Engine Journal?is an opinion piece, yet it draws very interesting insights on how SEO can drown out the dominance of misinformation. But even more so, it points to the need for digital strategies by experts at universities to develop educational, academically-supported content to dominate the highly coveted top spots of the SEO/SMO ranks.
Need to Capture Gen Z? They're "Extremely" Online
54% of Gen Z are reported to spend at least 4 hours daily on social media, according to?Morning Consult. 38% spill over into the 4+ hours per day. ??
If you’re having a hard team reaching this demographic, a good place to start is YouTube ads. YouTube happens to be Gen Z’s favorite brand, and it’s used significantly more than any other platform for the generation who fall between 13 and 25 years old.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to throw all of your ad spend at?TikTok.
Watch out for YouTube Shorts in 2023. ??
领英推荐
Unsure About "Dark Patterns" and What They Are? Epic Games Gets Hit with an Epic FTC Fine (Pun Intended)
“Dark patterns” continue to rear their ugly heads. The latest example is?Epic Games’ deceptive practices within its user interface. This encouraged “accidental in-game purchases”, resulted in millions of user complaints, and let minors make continual purchases without parental consent via saved credit card info.
How?
The story is the "Purchase" button for in-game items was positioned next to the "Preview Styles" button. It was easy to click purchase instead of preview by accident and think nothing of it—especially when Epic failed to display a purchase confirmation for those misplaced clicks.
It’s easy to make the excuse of a fast-moving environment (like Epic did), where developers are constantly adapting and evolving UI/UX design. But that isn’t justification for failing to hear millions of complaints and doing nothing to address the issue.
For the dark pattern violation alone, Epic is forking over $245 million to the FTC. ??
Instagram Notes via Meta's "New Features" Blog
Instagram?Notes ?? i.e. “Share Your Thoughts” in 60 characters or less.
Zuckerberg is debuting new end-of-year features on Instagram to bring in 2023. The most talked about (and criticized) feature are little snippets for you to express what’s on your mind. They last 24 hours and then vanish. Some are equating the Notes feature to an “away message” — an ode to AIM instant messenger back in the day.
To quote?Meta’s idea behind Notes: “During testing, we learned that people liked having a lightweight, easy way to share what’s on their mind and start conversations.” They go on to describe the feature as casual and spontaneous …but if your friend group is like my friend group, the adoption rate is low.
Have you used Instagram Notes yet? If you’re an SMM, have you thought about how you can leverage Notes within your social media strategy? ??
Twitter's "Revue" Newsletter Sunsetting in January 2023
Twitter’s “Revue” is officially sunsetting on January 18, 2023, and that’s great news for LinkedIn’s newsletter platform. ??
This was yet another follow-the-leader, copycat upgrade when the hype over?Substack’s success was flooding the headlines. Hopefully, this is one change everyone can thank Mr. Musk for.
People are assuming this is a preemptive move before the character count is increased to 4000 from 280 per tweet.
Food for Thought
Did you assemble a list of marketing and advertising resolutions? If not, start now. ??
How is 2023 going to be different from 2022 in the digital world? ??
If you're trying to make a positive change in your life, there's no better time to begin. ??
The SUM is derived from industry news and insights related to marketing, copywriting, advertising, branding, web best practices, and more. If you enjoyed the SUM, subscribe for biweekly updates or follow?Zach Burger for content that doesn't miss a beat.